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Obsession  By  cover art

Obsession

By: Jonathan Kellerman
Narrated by: John Rubinstein
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Publisher's summary

Tanya Bigelow was a solemn little girl when Dr. Alex Delaware successfully treated her obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Now, at 19, Patty Bigelow, Tanya's aunt and adoptive mother, has made a deathbed confession of murder and urged the young woman to seek Delaware's help.

Armed with only the vaguest details, Delaware follows a trail twisting from L.A.'s sleaziest low-rent districts to its overblown mansions, retracing Patty and Tanya's nomadic and increasingly puzzling life. Then, a very real murder tears open a terrifying tunnel into the past, where secrets, and bodies, are buried.

Dramatic, action-packed, and filled with psychological detail that only Jonathan Kellerman can provide, Obsession is a whodunit, a whydunit, and something unique: a did-it-ever-happen. This is Kellerman at his heart-racing best.

Psyched? Listen to all of Jonathan Kellerman's Dr. Alex Delaware thrillers.
©2007 Plotline, Inc. (P)2007 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a Division of Random House, Inc.

What listeners say about Obsession

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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Story
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  • 4 Stars
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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

It's a Sad Day When...

Well, it's a sad day when Jonathan Kellerman disappoints, but that day has arrived. When I saw that there was a new Alex Delaware novel out, I felt that warm feeling of pleasure you get when you just know you're soon going to be settling down with a really good book. After "The Murder Book" and "Gone", both two of Kellerman's best, I could hardly wait.


To say that the book "takes off slowly" would be similar to saying, "in January, molasses is slow". I listened to the entire first half before even a hint of a plot began to emerge. I have never had a problem finding Kellerman's characters fascinating, but in this book the female protagonist (which ever one you pick for that role) was a forgettable person. I barely remembered her name. Even the ending, which (kind of) pulls things together and does pick up, was certainly not enough. Sadly, I cannot recommend this book.

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28 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Might have been better as a hardcopy

This is one which might have been better abridged or as a hardcopy book. The audiobook was way too long for the story and at times was hard to follow with all the characters and the slow moving plot line. (Would have moved faster in the abridged version!). Not one of the most thrilling thrillers I've come across in a while.

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19 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Take your time and enjoy

In a world of instant gratification the graphic prose of Mr. Kellerman could be misconstrued as slow or long winded. But in the world of anticipated pleasure savoring each description and placing value on the visualizations is a welcome diversion. Why would you want to listen a shortened version and miss the observations of doctor Delaware as he describes each character? That is the delight of reading or in this case listening. So if you like fast food or eat so fast that you do not savor the food don't listen, but don't complain because you did not enjoy the meal.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Obsession (unabridged)

Like a previous reviewer, I felt that this novel would have been more enjoyable in the abridged version. Not a page-turner, but OK.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Odd flow of ideas

I did finish this book. It did have some odd flow and the characters in my view were a little shallow. He has some nice ideas but the follow thru isn't to my liking. The book was mildly interesting but the plot was just too hard to follow or too predictable. I did not enjoy this book as much as I believe I should have.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Sheer boredom

I have read and enjoyed other books by this author, and chose this one to listen to on while on our winter vacation. I was so disappointed and bored with this story that I finally gave up three-fourths way into the book, choosing to not waste any more of my time with this. I found the plot initially interesting, but the story line became quite convoluted, dragging on with boring detail but without any substance to hold the listeners interest. The narration was interesting in itself, but not enough so to overcome the completely uninspiring and unimaginative story line. Sorry I wasted my time and money on this one.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

bad buy

listening to this book was right up there with root canal surgery !

avoid this ... waist of time. no real plot [ dronong reader.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

I agree with all these reviewers!

I won't say this is Kellerman's WORST, but it was unquestionably much too long and convoluted. Oh, and boring. I was rather lost before reaching the second half of the download, and if I'm enjoying a book and lose the thread of the story, I don't mind starting again from the beginning and enjoying it all over again. But I never even considered that with this one; I just shrugged off my confusion with "who cares?"

GONE and MURDER BOOK were, as one other reviewer said, superior examples, and RAGE was okay. But this one was pretty blah. Not the worst -- THE WEB may have that honor. But a waste of bytes and credits.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Long with little substance

I love Johnathan Kellerman's other audiobooks- but this one was a huge disappointment. There wasn't much of a storyline and the end wasn't worth the wait.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Disappointing

Much too slow...could never feel invested in the characters...storyline not interesting and even a bit too complicated to follow...there's MUCH better mystery reading out there. The pluses...I've come to love the voices of Dr. Delaware and Det.Sturgis as read by John Rubenstein..you can almost picture them.

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2 people found this helpful